Chris Cannizzaro and his team at
Eurocompulsion in New York have been
tuning and working on Fiat 500 Abarths
ever since they first arrived in the U.S. in
2012. Chris shared his wisdom on these
cars, and he invites readers to shoot
him questions and comments at
chris@eurocompulsion.net.

One thing that really drew us
to the car was its shape. Its classic
but still modern styling is much
different than most of the cars you
see on the road these days.

The Abarth is one of the few
cars on the road that comes from
the factory with a straight-through
exhaust–no mufflers–and an afterrun
coolant pump for the turbo.
You don’t normally see those
things on stock vehicles in this
price range.

The car off the lot is fairly visceral
and driver-connected, which many
other modern cars cannot claim,
especially in this price range. If you
take one of these for a test drive,
make sure you press the Sport
button, as it changes the attitude of
the car quite a bit. When pressed,
it increases power, tightens up the
steering, and increases the sensitivity
of the gas pedal. These cars are
also generally underrated from the
factory, with many actually surpassing
their stock specs on the dyno.

If buying, one thing you should
look for is slightly peeling side
skirts near the rear wheel. They
can be repaired with doublesided
adhesive tape, but in most
instances you’ll have to remove
the entire side skirt. Another
common cosmetic issue involves
the front badge. It tends to dig
into the paint on the bumper and
cause tiny chips. If the car is still
under warranty, the dealership will
repair these issues for you.

Mechanically, a few things you
should look for besides the usual
and obvious items are loose CV
boots and leaking intercooler
hoses. Some cars actually came
from the factory with under-tightened
or even missing intercooler
clamps and loose CV joint boots.
Most, if not all, of the cars should
have been corrected by now.

Some of these cars also tend to
have rear main seal leaks, so look
for a wet or dirty area where the
engine seals to the transmission.
Again, most of these cars are fairly
new and have low miles, so the
dealer will be able to remedy this
issue for you. If the car is out of its
factory warranty, this repair requires
you to remove the engine and reseal
the engine and transmission.

In general these cars are pretty
stout and can handle some hard
miles, despite their dimunitive size
and friendly appearance.

The suspension modification
that offers the best bang for your
buck and an immediately evident
improvement is an upgraded rear
torsion bar. Most people begin
with this part. It levels out the rear
of the car under heavy cornering
loads and helps dial out instability
over uneven pavement and in corners.
Neu-F by Neuspeed makes a
high-quality bar that’s very reasonably
priced at around $160.

The two most popular
power upgrades for this
car are made on the
intake system and ECU.
The stock intake system
is very restrictive on this car and is
a big hindrance to performance.
Meanwhile, the stock intake tract
takes sound baffling and overall
airflow restriction to a new level.
We offer a handful of intakes to
suit your power needs and your
preferred sound levels. Whether
you prefer the sound of the turbo
or want to focus strictly on the
wonderful exhaust note, you can
expect a tangible increase in
power and throttle response.

Similarly, the stock ECU leaves
much to be desired with its seemingly
on/off power and occasional
flat spots in the powerband. There
are a lot of secrets to this car’s
ECU, and it has made tuning very
time-consuming, but we’ve finally
nailed it down. With our Unichipbased
system we essentially have
full control over the stock ECU,
allowing us to turn up the power
safely and effectively while offering
a staged system so you can
decide what is right for you.

If you’re starting out and have
to choose just one upgrade, we
suggest an intake system. It makes
the car sound better and increases
power and throttle response.

One popular and low-buck
modification is called the “freehorsepower
mod” or “boost
leak fix,” and you can easily find
instructions on the online forums.
It involves altering or removing
the line that comes from the
boost pipe and assists the car’s
EVAP system in purging vapors
back into the intake tract. After
completing this mod, owners
have reported smoother power
delivery and more consistent and
linear boost pressures.

Gear changes into reverse can
be tricky–and embarrassing–at
times. If you don’t shift into first
before shifting into reverse, you’ll
sometimes get a little grinding
from the gearbox.

The seating position is fairly
high and upright, so it requires
some time to get used to. Fiat
addressed this issue with its
2013 models, which have seats
that can be lowered an additional
inch or so.

Whether you currently own or
want to buy an Abarth,
fiattech.com and fiat500usa.com
are great places to interact with
fellow Fiat fans and seek wisdom.
Technical advice is especially
accessible at fiattech.com, where
you can read tech articles and
interact with a great group of folks
who are always willing to help you
with a repair or modification project.
You can keep tabs on upcoming
Fiat releases there, too.

Fiat Club America, affectionately
known as FLU, hosts a
four-day national event called
the Fiat FreakOut. This annual
gathering has been held in or
around major U.S. cities for the
last three decades, and it always
offers something for every age–
of enthusiast and of Fiat. FLU
has local chapters all across the
country, so it’s easy to meet up
with fellow fans in your area.

John Montgomery carries one
of the brightest torches for Fiat
in North America. Not only does
he help manage Benson Fiat,
he’s also the president of Fiat
Club America.

If you have a Fiat 500 Abarth
and are looking for quick
avenues to better performance,
you’ve chosen the right car.
Sizable performance gains
are possible with simple
bolt-on modifications.

The first change most owners
make is adding what’s called a
“power pedal.” This little black
connector plugs in between
the gas pedal and its wiring
harness. It doesn’t add power,
but instead works like a Sport
button does in most other cars,
quickening throttle response
and sensitivity. This little device
is worth its weight in gold for
these cars, and it takes about 2
minutes to install.

For many people, the next
upgrade is a cold-air intake.
Again, this modification is very
simple, taking about 15 minutes
to install. It increases power and
the volume of angry turbo noises
emanating from your car.

One interesting modification
that has become fairly popular is
replacing the stock throttle body
with one from a Dodge Dart,
which happens to share the same
engine. With the Dart’s throttle
body, you can increase airflow by
up to 20 percent and horsepower
by about 7.

The next-biggest step people
tend to take is adding a Unichip,
which actually does add horsepower
and torque to your output.
It’s a plug-and-play module that
links to the car’s computer and
effectively manages the engine
to put down more power. A shop
will need to set it up. If you have
a Unichip, there is no need for
the power pedal.

Despite Fiat’s reputation, the
Abarth is actually over-engineered
and the drivetrain is fairly
bulletproof. It can handle the
extra power that these upgrades
provide without skipping a beat.
Not many people realize this
car’s potential, but when tuned
correctly it can be a true Mini
Cooper S-killer.